Well, after some fine Michelin starred dining on Valentines day, it was time to work it off on one of our favourite permissions.

So, it was off to "MC", as this permission is code named, and with high anticipation of a field we have eagerly awaited to survey. On our last visit we only managed the field perimeter, this alone took all day!

On the way there a barn owl appeared before us in a suicidal manouevre whilst we were doing 70mph on the motorway. We hoped that this may have been a good omen as we've now seen four barn owls on previous occaisions with good results!

It was another quite misty/foggy start upon arrival and the conditions persisted until 10am. The weather was fairly good though with no wind and relatively warm at +6C. This did however change after lunch with a biting SE wind prompting us to don another layer and go for thicker gloves!

The machines were set as last week but this time we elected for the 13" x 11" coils over the standard 9". At first we thought this may have been an incorrect descision as the small ferrous signal count was "off-the-clock" with each swing registering a huge amount of iron targets. The large coils however handled the contamination with ease even though the sound coming through the headset sounded like a Gatling Gun going off!

The first signal of the day resulted in a worn C4th bronze Roman unit at 3" depth. The second signal, in contrast, was something more special, a small Saxon silver sceat, again this was only 3" under the surface too.A large amount of lead was recovered amongst the ferrous items and, as expected, even more super artefacts and coins also made an appearance.A cut quarter and other hammered coinage, along with more Roman coins, a Roman fibula, and a fibula fastening loop came from the top five inches of the field surface.

The next artefact was very special indeed, a late Saxon buckle with its highly decorated strapend plate attached with gold guilding still partly adorning its flanks.

A lovely silvered C13th buckle was recovered from beneath a ferrous item, both recognised accordingly by the Déus.At least 13 shards of medieval pottery was recovered as well as three worked pieces of flint.Pewter spoon fragments and rim-part of a C18th cattle bell with various medieval belt mounts, buttons and three lead pot mends were also recovered.

A superb trio of silver pre-decimal coins emerged in order of financial heirarchy, a sixpence, a florin and a half crown. Another George VI sixpence came up nearby.

In all, six Roman coins, six hammered coins, two Roman fibula fragments, five medieval buckles and parts, several lead weights and some nice dating fabric was recovered.The images from the day for all the artefacts and coins can be seen here.